Happy St. Valentine's Day...? Perhaps Not...

Girls, be warned! Fr. Z has given advertising space to the schmucks at the Bronx Zoo who think that naming a Madagascan hissing cockroach after one's beloved is a cool St. Valentine's Day gift.

To be fair, Fr. Z did warn that the hissing sound might be the vase flying towards the giver's head...

Reading his post, I can say with all honesty that I am profoundly grateful I'm not likely to get any St. Valentine's Day presents... 

Back Again...!

Well, at the risk of inviting further disaster, I am delighted to say that my malfunctioning computer has been sorted out. Somehow or other, the registry had been completely corrupted. This necessitated wiping the whole shebang off and reinstalling Windows.

It took me a surprising amount of time to sort out the spaghetti at the back of the computer - what with keyboard, mouse, printer, monitor, speakers, webcam, external hard drive, internet connection and, last but not least, various power cables (yes, they are important... I actually spent three minutes wondering why my computer wouldn't work after I'd connected everything, only to realise that I'd hooked the power cable up out of the way and forgotten to reconnect it! I felt particularly blonde at that point...) I suspect it wouldn't have taken quite so long if the spaghetti hadn't been in such a tangle in the first place!

All fine and dandy, only I now have to reinstall all the programs I had on the computer. The data was saved, as far as I can see, but not the actual programs.

Looking at the blank slate of a computer filled me with a mixture of excitement (oooooh... it's like having a new computer... and I can load the programs I use most, and ditch the old, obsolete ones!) and dread (oh Lord... I have to find the CDs and activation codes, and actually spend time uploading the whole lot... it'll take forever!)

I've made a start... Chrome was the one thing the computer weenies put up for me (they were of the opinion that it's streets ahead of anything else!) and I have been trying to trace favourite links. It will take me quite some time, but blogging will be back on track shortly...

Apologies...

Having just gotten my blogging inspiration back, I was all fired up and raring to go. Unfortunately, my computer decided that it had had enough, and promptly conked out. Posting from a mobile phone is much more fiddly and much less fun, unless one has sorted the posts out beforehand! Hopefully my computer will be fixed soon...

Oh You Really Think So...?

The Catholic Herald reported that more than 140 Catholic theologians from universities in Austria, Switzerland and Germany have called for the Church to ordain women, end priestly celibacy and let lay people help select bishops, along with a few other changes, like allowing remarried divorcees to receive the Sacraments.

They said that enacting the reforms would attract people back to the Church.

Yeah, right. Because that really worked in the Church of England, didn't it?

Just To Make Deo Volente Happy...

It seems that Deo volente's hankering for a bit of the St. Ninian tartan to be shown, as well as a smidgeon of aubergine...

I aim to please...

Mass For The Feast Of St. Agatha...

Fr. Tim gave an excellent sermon at this month's Saturday Missa Cantata - which just happened to be the feast of St. Agatha. I was in the mood for a photo or two, and I don't often get the chance to snap the red vestments...

Maybe His Hermeneuticalness was reflecting on St. Agatha's role as patron of bellringers, but he swung the thurible rather enthusiastically during the Offertory, and the MC apparently failed to move the altar out of the way (it being a time-honoured tradition that all errors are the fault of the MC) so the bottom of the thurible came off with an appropriately ringing clang!

I managed to persuade the schola to pose for a photograph afterwards, along with our Organist Emeritus...

Yes, I Have Hopped On The Bandwagon...

*sigh*

Yes, ok, I shall admit it... I have been persuaded to give my blog a bit of a facelift. In this I am following the good example set by Fathers Finigan, Boyle and Blake (though, to be fair, I think Fr. Ray changed his blog a while back!) I haven't changed the blog since its creation in 2006, so it really was time for an overhaul, if only to improve loading speeds on mobile phones and whatnots...

Looking at what the good Fathers have done, I suspect that I have chosen the better part (well, the better template anyway!) - I hate having to read light text on a dark screen. My background photo, for anyone who is interested, is shown above, and is one I took at the Marian Procession at Lourdes last year. I think that the blue sky maintains some continuity with my previous colour scheme as well, so the changes won't be quite so much of a shock...

Consider yourselves lucky... Deo volente (who has also had a blog makeover) was trying to provoke me into aubergine or Papal Tartan!

UPDATE: Fr. Brown has done it too... That's the problem with reading blogs via Google Reader - you miss this sort of thing...

Mass at St. George's Cathedral...

In the absence of proper blogging, I thought I'd bring this important event to your attention - the Latin Mass Society is having a Mass for the Feast of the Apparitions of Our Lady at Lourdes, on Friday, 11 February 2011, at 6pm at St. George's Cathedral, Southwark.

Do make the effort to attend if you can. Further details can be found on the Southwark North blog.

Catholic Medical Association Conference...

I've been asked to advertise the following conference from the Kent Branch of the Catholic Medical Association...

(Click to enlarge)

Anyone interested in attending should email Wendy Kane or telephone her on 07992 359 239. It looks as if it will be a valuable meeting for any healthcare workers.

Difficulties Blogging...

I'm finding it a little difficult to blog at the moment.

Life is pretty hectic, but not with anything that I can blog about. Work is taking up a lot of my time - parents' evenings, reports and marking feature heavily at the moment. The kittens are also keeping me fully occupied... but, aware that I have been wittering on about kittens far too frequently, I want to refrain from posting even more stuff about them... even if, not content with stealing my aniseed balls, they have been mugging me for my crispy duck pancakes with hoi sin sauce...

I shall try and get back to regular blogging shortly...

Smiles On Sunday...

It is rare to find a "clean" comedian these days. Milton Jones seems to specialise in one-liners, and he proves that you don't have to be rude to be funny.

I first heard him on the radio, so I had no idea how very mad he looked!

Anyway, just to make you smile this Sunday morning, I thought I'd share...

I particularly enjoyed the one about the Science teacher's funeral...

Underestimating Kittens...

Foolish, foolish woman that I am...

This evening, I happened to spot a shop in Bluewater which sells traditional sweets, such as aniseed balls, cough candy, barley sugars and licorice bootlaces. The sweets were even weighed out on old-fashioned scales and wrapped in paper bags! I treated myself to some aniseed balls and apple bonbons (a little trip down memory lane before I get to amnesia alley) and, on my return home, mightily pleased with my purchase, I put them down on my bedside table while I went to read my emails.

On returning to the bedroom, I discovered one kitten playing with aniseed balls, while the other was sitting in the middle of the other paper bag (which had kitten toothmarks in the bottom, along with a large hole) entranced by the bonbons...

Needless to say, the expensive catnip-filled balls and mice I have purchased previously for the amusement of my feline friends are lying around the flat, abandoned and neglected...

To Veil Or Not To Veil...

Vincenzo has posted an excellent article by Mgr. Charles Pope about Colombo Cathedral's mandate that women should be veiled in church. It seems, from the original piece, that concerns were being expressed about standards of dress, and so the Cathedral authorities decided to get everyone's attention with the head covering rule. Personally, although I would like the practice to be reintroduced, I think Colombo Cathedral's approach is a little heavy-handed...

This might surprise a few of you. But it all boils down to the reason for wearing a head covering. Mgr. Pope gives the main ones, and promptly demolishes them...

Canon Law no longer insists on women covering their heads in church. If that is the case, then I find it hard to understand why the cathedral in Colombo is insisting that women must be veiled. If, as they say, there are problems with dress standards, then I believe that those are what need to be dealt with. Sticking a veil on top of a woman's head will not make up for the fact that she is wearing an all-too-revealing crop top.

I choose to wear a mantilla - for a few reasons.

Firstly, I like the traditional idea that a woman's hair is her crowning glory, and as such it is veiled in God's presence as a sign of humility. I also like the fact that I have to stop on my way in to the church to put my mantilla on - this helps me to avoid treating the place as just another building - I put the mantilla on and in doing so I get the chance to recollect where I am and with Whom I am about to converse. This is the strongest argument (for me) about not exchanging the mantilla or veil for a hat. Hats are generally worn outside as well, and so there is no special indication that one is entering the house of God. Finally, the mantilla helps me to avoid distractions - it shields my face from those around me, and, rather like the nun's veil, encourages me to ignore whatever is happening at either side, encouraging me to turn my gaze towards the altar.

Many women feel self-conscious about wearing a mantilla or chapel veil. I would encourage them to give it a go - it feels strange at first, but you soon get used to it. I now would feel very odd indeed if I were to enter the church without my head covered.

A Lost Luggage Saga...

Following on from my post with Fascinating Aida's take on cheap flights, I thought I'd add Rhod Gilbert's experiences with another budget airline and lost luggage...



Hopefully it'll make you smile this Sunday morning...

A Little Light Entertainment...

Ches posted this to mark the end of the school week... Milton Jones always looks as if he's in shock...!



Twitch of the mantilla to The Sensible Bond.

Are They Reading My Blog...?

...Probably not, but it did amuse me to note that, just one week after my blog post bemoaning the lack of progress on introducing the new translation of the Mass, the Bishops have made an announcement.

Yes, the new translation is due to make its official debut in England and Wales in September. That gives us plenty of time to check out the new website and watch the introductory DVD - all six hours' worth of experts talking us through what it all means - before the new Missal is published in Advent.

Like I said before, I feel prepared already because I passed my English Language and English Literature 'O' Levels many, many years ago (with flying colours, I might add...) Having said that, some people like listening to DVDs from the Bishops' Conference.

Twitch of the mantilla to Mark Greaves of the Catholic Herald.

Ordinations For The Ordinariate...

Lots of other bloggers have posted on this already, and far more eloquently than I ever could, as well as with more authority. So, His Hermeneuticalness has been rejoicing over Saturday's "day of white marked with a stone" (whatever that means... though it sounds pretty good to me... presumably it's the Latin equivalent of a red letter day!), while Fr. Ray Blake also seems pretty chuffed. Damian Thompson was positively jubilant (his post makes it sound as if he is pinching himself to check he's not dreaming!), and the excellent Anna Arco from the Catholic Herald has a fantastic overview of the ceremony and some of the reactions.

Leutgeb of Bara Brith fame has, in her understated way, put up a link for anyone who wishes to become a friend of the Friends of the Ordinariate, while speculating on the bun-fight which might have followed...

I would also like to offer my congratulations to all those concerned.

I was slightly amused to see this photo on Facebook. The hordes of supporters calling for the Holy Father to ordain women...

...almost outnumbered by the cameraman and the interviewer...

What, exactly, has to happen before these sad individuals realise that they are flogging a dead horse? It is just never going to happen...

Thanks to Peter Williams for the photo!

UPDATE: The Reluctant Sinner was actually present at the ordinations, so do go over and read his account...

Interesting...

I have finally met the Ecumenical Diablogger... he was visiting Blackfen, and, having been warned that I would take umbrage if he failed to make himself known, (I believe my usual phrase is "I will hunt you down!" sometimes with the additional warning of "I know where you live!") Stuart hastily introduced himself after Benediction.

It was a delight to meet him at long last! Do go on over and have a look at his blog...

John Paul II To Be Beatified...

After the death of Pope John Paul II, there were many calls for him to be canonised immediately. Although Pope Benedict waived the five-year rule, things seemed to have gone very quiet. And now it has been announced that the miracle needed for Pope John Paul II's beatification has been approved, and the ceremony will take place on May 1, 2011, which happens to be Divine Mercy Sunday.

Fr. Ray Blake speculated that John Paul II's body would be transferred to the Chapel of St. Sebastian in St. Peter's, and, according to Rome Reports, this has been confirmed. Fr. Z has an excellent post about the speed of the beatification process, and why some people seem to get fast-tracked to sainthood. And the Catholic Herald (the only British Catholic newspaper worth reading, in my humble opinion - and I thought that even before they asked me to write an article for their Christmas supplement!) has a feature on the French nun whose healing from Parkinson's disease at the intercession of Pope John Paul II provided the miracle needed for the process of beatification to continue.

Shouldn't We Be Preparing For That Translation...?

I was under the impression that the reason we hadn't been given the go-ahead for the new ICEL translation of the Mass was that we needed time to be "instructed," so it wouldn't come as a shock to us.

Given that I was able to read English well before I went to school, and I passed my GCE 'O' Levels in both English Literature and English Language, I am at a loss to understand what further preparation might be required. Admittedly, I will have to keep a close eye on the new responses for the first year or two, but it strikes me as a small price to pay for the change from the banal "And also with you!" to the more accurate (and meaningful) "And with your Spirit!"

It is rather reminiscent of this classic YouTube video...



Being of a rather cynical frame of mind, I did wonder whether the delay was due to the Bishops of England & Wales hoping that, with the delay, people might lose interest, the impetus would be lost, and the whole thing could be brushed firmly under the carpet... rather like the outcry over the loss of our Holy Days of Obligation. And, indeed, calls for the new translation do appear to have died down...

...of course, what their Lordships have failed to realise is that the majority of people who were interested in a more accurate (and, hence, more faithful) translation of the Mass are of a more traditional bent. The reason that the outcry over the Holy Days has died down is that the people who are really bothered by their loss have realised that they can celebrate them in the Extraordinary Form - unhampered by the need to put on extra parish Masses for the Holy Day, there are more and more Extraordinary Form Masses being made available on these days. In the same way, if their Lordships don't get a move on getting the new translation sorted, more and more people might decide that the Extraordinary Form of Mass is the way forward...